US moves targeting Chinese journalists dangerous regression

In the middle of a tragic global public health crisis, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that five Chinese media outlets will be required to reduce their total number of staff from 160 to 100.

Although the journalists will not be forced to immediately leave the United States, their visas are tied to their employment, so they will have to come back to China. In other words, the US just made the decision to expel 60 Chinese media representatives from the country.

What did they do wrong? Did they commit a crime? Did they offend the US nation? Did they threaten US national security? Of course not. They have to leave because they are Chinese citizens working for Chinese media.

With this move against the Chinese media, the US is on a path of dangerous regression that needs to be condemned and stopped.

Before the announcement concerning the 60 individuals, the United States had made the decision to treat five Chinese media entities as extensions of China's government, requiring them to comply with rules applying to foreign embassies and consulates.

The US pretends that Chinese media outlets "subvert" the US system. The objective is clear. There is no need to argue with the content anymore, no need to face its complexities and nuances. By disparaging the medium, the message is neutralized, if not discredited.

The expulsion of 60 Chinese media employees is another step in a regressive trajectory, it is not an effect of strength but, on the contrary, of weaknesses. It is becoming increasingly clear that Sinophobia in the 21st century is a manifestation of the West's own insecurity. Would a cohesive and confident US have acted against Chinese media outlets in this way? The classification of the five Chinese media entities as extensions of China's government and the expulsion of 60 Chinese journalists simply shows the US is afraid of its own inadequacies.

While battling a virus which threatens lives and mobilizing so it can avoid a global recession, the international community－and the objective segments of US society－will know what to make of the big regression of the US under the current administration.

China will certainly find an appropriate answer to this new situation. Beyond, China will know how to display strategic patience, so Washington can recover strategic wisdom.

The author is a Sinologist and founder of the Europe-China Forum. The views don't necessarily express those of China Daily.